Sparx Systems Newsletter – November 2009

Coming Soon... Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect Community Site!

We are proud to announce development of a new online center for sharing resources among the Enterprise Architect user community. Also in news this month, we announce new support for TOGAF 9 and the official release of MDG Integration for Visual Studio, version 4.0.

Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect Community Site – A new online resource center for the user community

TOGAF 9 – Support for The Open Group's latest architecture framework

Visual Studio Integration Release – MDG Integration for Visual Studio, version 4.0

Tips and Tricks – Work Smarter with Enterprise Architect

Special Offers, Releases and Resources – From our global partners

Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect Community Site

The Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect Community Site will allow you to share and access resources in the form of tutorials, sample models, scripts, best practice papers and case studies. By providing a central resource hub, the new Community Site aims to enrich the modeling experience and depth of resources available to all Enterprise Architect users.

Prior to the official release, we are providing advance access to the Community Site for our registered users, who may wish to contribute resources or provide general feedback. We encourage you to visit the link below for details on how to access the site and apply for authorship during this beta phase:
www.sparxsystems.com/registered/community.html

TOGAF 9 Release

The release of MDG Technology for TOGAF version 2.0, introduces support for The Open Group's latest TOGAF 9 framework. Practitioners can now leverage Enterprise Architect 7.5 and its support for ArchiMate, SoaML and SPEM 2.0 to implement TOGAF 9 as a comprehensive and open method for enterprise architecture. Also included with the new MDG Technology for TOGAF is support for the Business Motivation Model (BMM) for developing business plans under the TOGAF 9 method.

Full Release Details and Trial download:
www.sparxsystems.com/products/mdg/tech/togaf/2.0/index.html

MDG Integration for Visual Studio, Version 4.0

Version 4.0 of Sparx Systems MDG Integration for Visual Studio offers new ways for developers, analysts and architects to work together, to better understand and manage their systems and software. Key advances in version 4.0 include tighter integration with Visual Studio, enhanced interoperability with Team Foundation Server and improved performance for large–scale models, with Enterprise Architect's "Lazy Load" feature.

Full Details Here:
www.sparxsystems.com/products/mdg/int/vs/4.0/index.html

Tips and Tricks

Tip 1: How to quickly navigate between Diagrams and the Project Browser

When exploring large, complex diagrams, you often need to find where a particular element fits into the overall model hierarchy. Try this:

  1. Select the element of interest in the diagram
  2. Right-click and choose Find | In Project Browser (Alt+G). You'll be taken straight to the element in the Project Browser! (Or to locate the diagram itself, use Shift+Alt+G)
  3. Conversely, from the Project Browser, you can find where an element is used in diagrams: Right-click the element and choose: In Diagrams... (Ctrl+U).


Tip 2: Customizing code generated from behavioral models

You can modify the Enterprise Architect's code generation templates to suit your organization's standards:

  1. Open the Code Template Editor via Settings | Code Generation Templates (Ctrl+Shift+P)
  2. Choose your target language and a template for behavioral code generation (such as "Action")
  3. Modify the template as necessary and save. (For details on editing templates, search the help for: "code templates")

The next time you generate code for the target language, your modified template will be used instead.

Messages and Information from our Partners

The following messages were supplied by Sparx Systems' Partners. The content does not necessarily reflect the views or intentions of Sparx Systems.

SparxSystems Central Europe offers "Best Practice Workshop" Munich 9–10.03.2009

Fourteen sessions with themes including report generation, Enterprise Architect and TFS, team collaboration and many more. An expected highlight will be Rizo's plug–in development night

  • Workshops are being adjusted to meet requests!
  • Filling out the workshop questionnaire will influence the workshop's agenda
  • The questionnaire and workshop will be conducted in German

URL: www.sparxsystems.de/sparx-systems/news/news-beitrag/article/sparxsystems-best-practice-workshhop-1/

Announcement from Sparx Systems Spain

Sparx Systems Spain invites managers of IT departments and development teams to the quarterly Business Breakfasts with Sparx Systems technology partners

These topics will be covered in the Business Breakfasts:

  • Enterprise Architect for SAP NetWeaver (with Realtech)
  • From requirements to source code (with Visure/IRQA)
  • Model reuse techniques with Enterprise Architect (with The Reuse Company)
  • Model migration to Enterprise Architect from other modelling tools (with DEISER ITG)
  • Fast deployment of software development methodologies (with DEISER ITG)
  • MDG for JIRA: Test cases management using Enterprise Architect and Atlassian's JIRA (with DEISER ITG)

If you are a manager of an IT department or a software development team interested in attending one or more of the Business Breakfasts, please fill-in the online form.

URL: https://www.sparxsystems.es/

ARCSeeker – New build by Sparx Systems Japan enhances Enterprise Architect connectivity

The new build of ARCSeeker helps you maximize reusability of Enterprise Architect models

Sparx Systems Japan released the new build of ARCSeeker on October 1st, 2009. ARCSeeker supports creation of 'assets' from Enterprise Architect UML models to facilitate reusability of model data.

The new build expands ARCSeeker's import and export functionality for Enterprise Architect models and enhances assets lifecycle management. For more details, visit the ARCSeeker website.

URL: www.arcseeker.com/

New Release of Agile/ICONIX add–in now supports Design–Driven Testing

ICONIX and Sparx Systems have collaborated on the production of a new Add–In that extends Enterprise Architect to support Design–Driven Testing

ICONIX and Sparx Systems have collaborated on the production of a new Add–In that extends the functionality of Enterprise Architect to support Design–Driven Testing (DDT). DDT (also known as ICONIX Process for Test) will be described more completely in an upcoming book by Doug Rosenberg and Matt Stephens.

The add–in supports driving tests from UML models at multiple levels. It automatically generates test cases for Requirements, for controllers on Robustness diagrams and for messages on Sequence Diagrams.

The add–in includes automatic Transforms between test cases and test classes. Transforms exist for JUnit and NUnit.

Once the test cases have been transformed to test classes, they can be code–generated, using Enterprise Architect's standard code–generation techniques.

URL: www.iconixsw.com/Articles/ddt_tutorial.html

Enterprise Architect in Projects Campaign 2009

We would like to invite you to take part in the Erudis’ Enterprise Architect in Projects (EAP) 2009 training program to achieve Erudis' certification

For a limited time through the EAP campaign, Erudis is offering the chance to be Erudis certified on Enterprise Architect. EAP 2009 is a cycle of specialized courses and exams, tailored by role. All participants in the course are entitled to a 20% discount on Enterprise Architect licences.

URL: www.erudis.pl/pl/eap2009/opis

Tassc Introduces New Enterprise Architect Training Modules and Courses

Tassc adds new modules, courses and flexible pricing to an extensive ‘mix and match’ training catalogue to cater for Business Analysts and Systems Architects

Tassc has developed new Enterprise Architect training modules to cater specifically for Business Analysts and Systems Architects. ‘Mix and match’ from an extensive catalogue of modules to build a custom course, or simply select one of the popular pre–defined courses

Tassc provides tailored on–site training courses throughout the UK and Europe for 3 or more delegates – a new flexible pricing structure also provides excellent value for money. All Tassc trainers have years of practical hands–on experience with Enterprise Architect and UML.

URL: www.tassc-solutions.com/training-pages/training.htm

CEPHAS Consulting releases SoaML course for SOA modelers

Learn how to formally model your SOA Service specifications with Enterprise Architect's implementation of the OMG's SoaML

Learn how to formally model your SOA Service specifications with Enterprise Architect's implementation of the OMG's SoaML (Beta 1) specification. This notation allows you to specify, in a platform independent way, the complete functional capabilities of these Services including participants, protocols, choreography, policies, interfaces, service contracts, etc. Together with other both upstream and downstream modeling capabilities of Enterprise Architect, such as Requirements, Business Processes, XML Schema and WSDL, Cephas can help you build an end–to–end model of your Service definitions.

URL: www.cephas.cc

Increase your productivity with the Imaging Technology based on MDG Technology from Im'Info

Imaging Technology provides a complete UML meta–model allowing you to automatically generate the code for applications in image processing from activity diagrams

Imaging Technology is the MDG Technology for Industrial Imaging that relies on Java Advanced Imaging (JAI) API and is based on the MDA approach.

It is natively integrated with Enterprise Architect and includes a variety of tools to simplify its handling. These tools will allow you to create activity diagrams from the elements provided by the Imaging profile. You can then complete some elements thanks to predefined Tagged Values which will refine your model.

Your activity diagram will become a class diagram through a model to model transformation, then you can obtain the code related to your image processing application as a result of the code generation capabilities within Enterprise Architect.

URL: www.iminfo.fr/iminfowiki/index.php...

News from French partner Objet Direct: 3rd Conference on MDA, 26th November in Paris

The MDDAY event, organized by 10 companies involved in MDA, will present various testimonials focused on the relationship between MDA, modeling and enterprise architecture

Keynote speakers include:

- Andrew Watson, Technical Director at OMG
- Jean Bizivin, Professor at Ecole des Mines de Nantes
- Xavier Warzee, Software Architect & Agile Evangelist at Microsoft
- Gregory Weinbach, Head of MDA Depart. at Objet Direct

G.Weinbach's presentation based on client CIG's experience will focus on how Model Driven approach might be used to industrialize Application Portfolio Modernization: From C/S to Web: MDA for Information System modernization.

CIG (French public agency) successfully transformed its legacy applications from an obsolete and proprietary Client/Server architecture to a JEE/Seam/JSF target. The project includes reverse modeling with Enterprise Architect. Main issues such as workarounds, cost estimates, risk optimization will be answered.

URL: www.objetdirect.com